In September, Southern Vermont College launched a new Tuesday evening comparative religion course. In previous years, comparative religion courses focused on broad introductions to majority religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism), attempting to give a general sketch of a tradition and then compare/contrast the beliefs, rituals, and ethics of the traditions. The Interfaith Council suggested a new perspective and methodological approach for the course, which introduces briefly various religious traditions (including traditions previously left unconsidered: Baha’i, Nature/Earth religions, etc.) and spends most of the semester engaging questions that humanity asks of itself and how religious traditions vary (and even harmonize) in their responses to the big questions of life.

Rather than speaking about religious experience in “textbook” fashion, we are helping the students become engaged in questions of life answered from religious perspectives as well modeling the benefit of interfaith dialogue. For example, an Episcopal priest and a Buddhist priest stand side by side and talk of religious answers about suffering. Along the way, they engage in dialogue about their religious traditions in an conversational, respectful manner. One recent evening, a lecture explored Judaism and Christianity’s general beliefs and then allowed time for the lecturers (in this case, Rabbi Joshua Boetigger and myself) to speak of the complicated past history and the prospect of a new story to develop in Jewish/Christian relations. The course allows local clergy to interact with students of one of our local institutions of higher learning. I am enjoying this opportunity to teach, as it allows me the ability to encounter the wonderful students of Southern Vermont College. The SVC students also embody some challenging demographic realities for the interfaith community.

The average young undergraduate in today’s colleges was born in the late 1980s and reflect a generation rising up in the United States who have a markedly different perspective on religion. A recent survey documenting U.S. religious preferences notes a dramatic change in persons who note “no religious preference” or “none” when asked if they are a person of a particular faith. In 2008, thirty-four percent of Vermonters claimed no religious identity, earning Vermont the title of “least religious state”. A straw poll of the SVC classroom indicated the same result: one-third of the class, or one in three students, claimed no religious identity. While today’s student has an appreciation for religious diversity, a level of distrust for institutional forms of religion also exists within the classroom and the present day U.S. context. The class instructors appreciate that they are teaching faith traditions in a time quite different than ever a couple of decades ago. It is sobering to see one-third of the hands go up when the religious identity straw poll is conducted.

As the semester unfolds, I am hopeful t I will be of help to the students, speaking a fair and even-handed word about our faith tradition while demonstrating respect and engagement with the other religious voices in the room. We can safely say First Baptist is an interfaith-minded group of people. We live out this commitment through our participation in the Interfaith Council and our support of ongoing interfaith initiatives such as at the Food and Fuel Fund and the Bennington Free Clinic. Congregants give time as Free Clinic volunteers, provide Council leadership, and help with initiatives such as the Empty Bowls event.

We should celebrate our ability to be rooted in the Baptist tradition and live out our calling as Christ’s disciple while doing this critical interfaith witness and work. We recognize our blessed uniqueness: we are Christians willing to be in the midst of the pain of the world, working together with persons whose faith convictions differ from our own.

Together, in our diversity, we speak to a new day emerging where even as religious interest has waned, the faith communities of Bennington, including the gathered people called “First Baptist”, offer a peaceable witness that faith can enrich and enliven.

Grace & Peace- Rev. Jerrod H. Hugenot